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17 zone design calls for 2 controllers/timers

I received a sprinkler design from rain bird and it says I need 16 zones for my yard and 1 for my flower bed. It recommends 61 sprinkler heads not including my garden. My yard is about 7200 sq. ft. I have about 70 psi out of my outside faucet and I get about 10 GPM.Rain Bird also recommends 2 contollers/timers because they don't make anything more than a 12 zone residential controller. Am I going to be unhappy with 2 controlers to worry about?

I personally can't stand seeing two controllers on one water source. Too many programs to keep track of, and too many start times to worry about. Many other manufacturers offer controllers up to 48 stations. Pricey, yes, but much less complicated in many ways. Even with 2 Rainbird ESPs and modules, you're probably still close to the same price as an 18 zone controller.

Be careful having Rainbird design your system. They are in the business of selling product, needed or not. I would still contact a professional and see what plan they come up with to compare the two. Not sure if Rainbird actually visited your property, or not, but designing anything off of blueprints and e-mails is asking for trouble.

Thanks guys for the quick responses. I thought 17 zones
seemed like a lot. Do you think the 61 sprinklers heads seem excessive? I know
it is somewhat hard to comment without seeing my yard layout. I also did the
free design service from Home Depot (Orbits) web site and it came up with
almost exactly the same results. I am bound and determined to do this all
myself and am trying to learn all I can before starting the project. I hate to
ask a professional to come out and give an estimate because I would feel guilty
because I have no intention on hiring someone. I have already learned a lot by
this and other great websites/forums.

I would sure like to be able to cut my plan back to 12 zones but that is such a
big drop from 17. It just doesn't seem like I have enough GPM to power 61 heads
on only 12 valves. One of my problems is I have a 4 ft. wide part that goes the
whole distant of my yard. (168 ft) And according to rain bird design it
requires 13 heads. This sound right?

Why not try a local distributor? For certain, they offer better parts and material. Ten gpm on a quarter-acre lot should not work out to seventeen zones, unless the landscaping is so tortured that nothing but fixed pop-up sprays can be used.

Can anyone tell me, as a general rule, how many square feet can a properly designed sprinkler system cover assumming my GPM is 10 and my PSI at my water source is 70 psi. For simplicity sake just assume a totally square area.
Thanks